Re: Buying in

: : : : What does the word
stakeholder mean, and where does it come from?

: : : STAKEHOLDER
: : : NOUN:
1. One who holds the bets in a game or contest. 2. One who has a share or an interest,
as in an enterprise.

: : : My limited sources say origins for this usage of
"stake" - where it means a wager, or a speculative investment - are unclear, but
perhaps come from Middle English, where it may have been customary to place an
object as a wager on a post or stake.

: : Stakeholder is used almost exclusively
as a political/economic term today.

: : "Stakeholder Capitalism" is a term
made popular by various politicians in the early 90's - but especially the group
that became New Labour. The gist of it was a kind of rerepresentation of politics
as consumer rights - i.e. I pay taxes, therefore I have a stake in the way things
are run. In other words, there is no such thing as a social point of view about
things or notion of the common good except in-so-far as if directly affects people
as stake holders. Which never really worked because people don't really operate
as consumers in ever aspect of their lives. This led to the rise of the idea of
"giving back", not on the basis that there is any self interest involved, but
that it's a moral imperative. Collective self interest is dead, replaced with
stake holding and moralism.

: : Stakeholding is also associated with shareholding
and bandied about a lot in the discussion of corporate governance.

: It's quite
useful, because there's a gap between shareholders in an enterprise, and stakeholders.
Employees have a stake in matters of corporate governance, even though many may
not be equity owners. Narrowing your view to shareholders (as the law often does)
is myopic and perilous.

Another business cliche is "buying in." "We want people
to buy in to the project." Meaning they want the workers or whoever to feel they
have a vested interest, a stake in the project. "Take ownership" of the project.